SATURDAY Jennifer, here. So Saturday morning started by being woken up to an unnecessary text from my father asking about the all important medicine. No dad, I didn’t take my medicine in my sleep. But now that I’m up…Shortly after, Emily awoke to me insanely close to her face and staring at her, in true creepy fashion. With a few stretches and yawns, we woke up and decided to make waffles for breakfast. One recipe would be perfect for us, so I got the egg and milk and mix, Emily got the kitchenware, and we teamed up to make waffles. The first waffle turned out beautiful, so naturally, I took it. On one half I put chocolate chips and folded it so the steam would melt them, and on the other half I put strawberry jelly. As I’m preparing my delicious breakfast I hear Emily emit a strange noise and go “My waffle feel on the floooooooor.” God knows how that happened. And you know, I’m a giver, so I told her I’d share my waffle. But she was dead set on having her own. So as I eat, she whipped up another half a batch and made herself a new waffle and joined me. It was yummy and as we ate we attempted to think of things to do, but ultimately decided with the crummy weather, we’d just stay in. After eating and cleaning up TOGETHER (yes, I’m a good guest), we hopped back into her bed to chill out. We alternated between reading fmylife.com, taking funny pictures (the first set below are from Saturday), and watching videos on Hulu. We each picked a Family Guy to watch (we both made excellent selections) as well as watched some other random stuff. By this point it’s like three or four in the afternoon, and we decide to get some Chinese food for dinner. We each picked a dish ( I chose chicken in garlic sauce and Emily chose sweet and sour chicken), then we decided to get some vegetable lo mein, and since it was really cheap we got a big container, and then Emily said their string beans were really good, so we decided to get those too. Of course we had a coupon which got us free sesame chicken, so I’d say we were set on the food department. When the food came, it was so much! But neither of us could stop eating. It was at this point I realized I was drinking soda past the expiration date, and fearing death, I called dad to check it out for me, halfway through speaking realizing there was a computer right in front of me that I could have checked it myself. But that was okay since while we were eating we watched Made of Honor which despite what Emily says, I foresaw a few possible endings and it wasn’t COMPLETELY predictable. When the movie ended and we cleaned up from dinner, it was time to go to Chelsea to see Upright Citizens Brigade. When we got there, there was already a pretty long line, but I feel like its about where we always are on line and not too much of a problem. Matt was meeting us for the show, but I guess since Emily was early with timing with everything this weekend, he compensated by being late. Emily waited outside the theatre for him while I went inside and quickly reserved three seats. The show we were seeing was called Reuben Williams Attacks! And it was hilarious. The first half of the show were improv skits inspired by a word or phrase yelled out by the audience (for us, the phrase was Hootie and the Blowfish). Emily imagines that every single idea was made up right there on the spot, but I think the performers have a general pre planned gist of different skit ideas for that night and the improv comes through the dialogue and how to incorporate the word. The second half of the show, they asked for a volunteer from the audience…someone who had something cool happen to them that week. With Matt’s futile attempt to raise our hands, a guy was picked a few seats down from us. They started asking things about him…where from, job, background, things like that. And just that conversation alone was hilarious. This guy, according to Matthew, was a “douchebag”. To me, he could have been Ms. Bartlett’s son (a la my impersonation of her). So the rest of the show were improv skits based off of the information they gathered about this guy, and they were so funny. The show ended at midnight and Matt asked us to go get dessert at a diner, but we were stilled stuffed from dinner and went our separate ways.

SUNDAY Sunday morning I awoke to an alarm because we had to get out semi early to get rush tickets to Chicago. Despite my several snoozes back to sleep and leaving the apartment later than Emily wanted, we still got to the theatre with no one else in sight waiting for tickets. The good news…we get the first tickts! The bad news…paranoia. “Maybe they aren’t doing it today. Are you sure the box office opens at noon? Etc”. Eventually the line grew longer and the stupidity of people shone. Imagine, a line of people standing outside the doors to the ticket box. People continually walk up to the door, attempting to open it or look inside, asking when it opens (THERE’S A SIGN ON THE DOOR) and asking if there are rush tickets (NO, I JUST LIKE STANDING ON LINES FOR NO PURPOSE). Anyway, we got our tickets, and made our way over to the Museum of Natural History. Emily was scared to buy our tickets for a dollar a piece, but I had no problem doing it since I’m sure they are used to it. So we got our tickets and started walking around. We went to a bunch of different exhibits, saw some cool stuff, saw some creepy stuff, saw some scary stuff! My favorite moment had to be when a bunch of little kids were staring at a diorama of the Neanderthals exclaiming “I saw here pupils move!” “I saw her hair move!” “I saw her blink!” “I think those are real people!” “Me, too!” “Me, three!” “Me, four!”. Around 2:30 we were trying to figure out what to do next since we wanted to eat at 5:30. We decided to go see Adeventureland which Emily and I agreed was a good movie. Not one of those laugh out loud the whole time, but there were some really funny parts and lots of chuckles. And the timing was perfect (and the theatre wasn’t far from the Chicago theatre). So we walked along 9th Avenue to find a place to eat, along the way seeing, as Dad refers to it, “Five Finger Burger”, but to the rest of the world, its “Five NAPKIN Burger”, I snapped a picture, sent it him, and assumed he was dead since I never got a response. We settled on a small Italian restaurant I don’t even remember the name to but it was quaint and fairly busy so we figured it must be good. We got fresh mozzarella as an appetizer. It was very very good, though a bit over priced, but hey, we are just livin’ in up! Emily got chicken parmigian and I got eggplant parmigian. Both were very good. I was a bit scared because I realized the eggplant still had the skin on, but I was a brave little toaster and tried it. Though it wasn’t horrible, I wouldn’t knowingly order it again like that. But both Emily and I ate until we were full. We then walked over to the theatre, perfect timing, found our seats, or rather, our general vicinities, and got settled for the show. The view was perfect. And the show was amazing as well. The dances were so on point and intricate, it was really cool! Both of us enjoyed it and agreed standing wasn’t too horrible (just near the end we got a bit antsy). We went back to Emily’s apartment and started watching the movie Smart People, and despite it’s setting in Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon (which I’m very impressed with myself that I recognized Donner Hall just from the outside building shot) the movie was weird and slow and boring so we turned it off. Emily went to bed, and I stayed up a bit later.

I know this post is soooooo late (psych) but the best things come to those who wait. And, were we to just sit at home and write up a blog we wouldn’t have anything to write about, now would we? I’m tackling a recap of Friday and Sunday, and Jennifer’s taking Saturday and Monday. So sit back and enjoy the read. Part 1 is ready.

FRIDAY

So, flashback to Friday. Jennifer’s bus was supposed to get in at 5:00. She kept updating me on the status of her bus and around 4:00, 4:30 I was getting nervous. It seemed like she may actually get in on time. But then the Lincoln Tunnel happened. And as we all predicted, the traffic was insane. Like one mile per hour insane. Like everybody on the bus calling everyone they know saying “I’ve never seen traffic like this!” insane. Okay maybe not that insane. Maybe just normal Friday traffic. But anyway, her bus arrived a few minutes after 6:00 which couldn’t have been any better. I was able to meet her at the stop with only a few minutes to spare. A good start to the weekend.

Then we headed to my apartment because, I don’t know if you guys know, but Jennifer had medicine that needed to be refrigerated. Or else. She. Would. Die. So we went to my house and threw the medicine in the fridge (before even going to the bathroom or taking off our coats, mind you). Then we decided to head back out to the grocery store to get snacks galore. We got a whole yummy stash: spicy doritos (obvs), popcorn, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies. It felt like there was more, but I guess it’s because I had some other junk in the house already. But anywho we headed back to my house to at least attempt to eat some healthy dinner before pigging out on our snacks. We had some of my faux minestrone, which Jennifer claims to have liked but you guys can ask whether she was just being nice or did like it. After that, we just chit chatted (aka bonded– you guys can smile happy) and watched some stuff online. We did a bunch of research, trying to find something to do indoors on Saturday. It just wasn’t working out… everything fun was either outside or expensive or not something we both wanted to do. So we went to sleep without much of a plan. We just wanted to sleep in and take it from there.

MONDAY

And then there was Monday, our final day in the city. We woke up, skipped breakfast so that we were nice and hungry, and headed downtown to the financial district. It was a beautiful day (although it could have been a bit warmer). The sky was blue and a great day for outdoorness. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge… writing that, I’m still shocked that Jen did it. As I wrote in an IM before she came, “she’s going up!”

We acted like total tourists (by we, I mean me) and took a bunch of pics of the skyline, the bridge, and ourselves. The walk wasn’t as long as I remembered and shorter than Jennifer expected. We were able to walk across pretty quickly, and, for once, I didn’t get completely lost once we got to Brooklyn. We were able to walk 1-2-3 over to Grimaldi’s… only to be greeted by the typical line. Maybe I was a bit naive going into it, but I really thought that on a Monday afternoon it wouldn’t be too crowded. Maybe a tiny bit of a wait but not the line I’m used to seeing when I go there on the weekend. So we waited in line, listening to this typical Brooklyn retard talk about how awesome Grimaldi’s is. “Yea, man, they could, like, spit in my food and I’d still eat here. It’s awesome, man.” That was amusing and definitely passed the time.

Once we got inside it was crowded as usual. Had to wait a while for our pizza to come out, but, like Jen said, it was definitely worth it. We got the small 14″ pie which meant we each had 3 smallish slices. It was delicious and filling and the perfect amount of pizza. Afterward, we headed out the pier for ice cream and photos. Unfortunately the amazingly delicious homemade ice cream shop on the pier was closed on Monday (I’m still upset about that) but we were able to still take pics. As you can see, they were lovely. We had fun jumping around and being goofy.

Then we headed back to the Hills. We stopped at a gelato place by my house but by that point I was over the whole ice cream thing. Jen got a strawberry and it was really really good. We got back to my house, uploaded all the photos to my computer, and then it was time to head to the bus already. In retrospect I did give us probably too much time to get there, but with little Ms. Draggy Feet and the fact that it was rush hour, I wanted to give us extra time rather than not enough.

We got there 50 minutes early — oops — and for the first time mega bus was absolutely insane. Usually it’s organized chaos, but for once it was actual chaos. There were buses every 10 minutes going to a bunch of different cities and was just a little disorganized. They didn’t wind up lining up for Jen’s bus until like 10 minutes before it arrived, meaning all these losers that got there after us wound up in front of the line! We were steaming, but it wound up fine in the end because as Jen told me the bus was super empty. If it were super crowded I would have been super pissed.

Kind of ironic that the trip began with a great, perfect bus experience and then ended with a poopy one.

And that, folks, is it. I hope that you aren’t still upset about how this blog came about. I know you said you wanted us to “write it together” but when people write together it’s hardly collaborative. It’s very difficult to write every word jointly; what usually happens is that people give and take. And that’s exactly what we did, gave and took sections. I’m sorry if you’re not happy with the outcome.

We had a great, fun, fabulous, busy (except for Saturday) time — which is exactly what you guys were hoping for. We talked, we bonded, we laughed, we did grown up things, we took retarded pictures. Couldn’t have asked for anything more. And I hope that you’re happy for us and don’t dwell on this blog situation. Because we had a great, fun time and that’s all that matter in the end.

So it feels like it’s been a whirlwind of a week, but looking back it actually hasn’t been too busy. Last weekend I went shopping on Saturday with Matt and Jess at Queens Center Mall, which is when I was able to spend my $20. Their mom forwarded us an email that had a 30% off coupon for Gap Inc. stores (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic) as part of a friends/family discount thing. So we all wanted to take advantage of that sale. Plus, Matt wanted more dress clothes for his job at his dad’s company and I just plain need new clothes that actually fit/aren’t jeans and t-shirts. All in all I’d say we were successful.

We spent a bunch of time in the Gap. I told Matt beforehand not to get his hopes up on this coupon. I remember distinctly telling him that Gap can be pricey and that even 30% off at Gap may still be more expensive than other stores like H&M. Well, what do you know, after browsing around for a little bit I ask him if he found anything and he said “it’s too expensive here!” I guess Emily knows best.

Usually I don’t go to the Gap for the same reason. I know there stuff isn’t all that expensive, but I’m cheap and to me it’s kind of expensive. But my mission this weekend was to try to look beyond the money and find clothes that 1) I liked 2) fit me well 3) were something I didn’t already own 4) were a bit nicert than my usual stuff 5) weren’t obscenely expensive. So I grabbed some stuff that I normally would say no to because of price and tried it on. Turns out, I really liked it. I bought 2 tops there and I was going to post pics of it but I think I’m going to wear it while I’m home so I’d like to save it for in-person viewing.

Then, we made a quick stop into Banana Republic. I didn’t think that was a good idea at all considering it’s more expensive than the Gap, but Matt just wanted to “see what they had.” So we went, and we actually found a long sleeve button down on sale that fit him really well. And then with the added discount it was normally priced. So that was a surprising success. I didn’t even look for me because the girls side was so crowded. Thinking back I probably should have sneaked a peak but oh well.

Then it was off to H&M because, let me just repeat, I was right that the Gap was too expensive and that H&M is the way to go. Matt found another long sleeve button down and I found a few things I liked there, too. As seen in the glorious photo posted below, I got a grey cardigan (I don’t own any cardigans, so I figured it was about time), a grey and white striped scarf (okay, I know I already own plenty of scarves, but I don’t own a grey one, white one, or a striped one!), and another mystery item which I shall be wearing this weekend.

We went to a couple other stores but didn’t buy anything else. We then headed back to Forest Hills for dinner. We went to Arianna’s, that pizza place on Austin St. that Dad and I went to and got good italian food. We all shared a pizza and it was good. If I ever got pizza delievery, which I haven’t gotten since Angeleo’s, I would probably order from there.

Then we parted ways. They took the LIRR back into the city and I went back to my apartment to get my things for a work sleepover. We had a fun time as usual. Got a lot of junk food. It’s always different, but this time we had popcorn, cheese puffs (which I could NOT stop eating. I haven’t had those since like middle school I forgot how amazing they are), and mini peanut butter cups. We watched the Sex and the City movie which James DL-ed illegally. It was good but shit I forgot how long it was. Usually we watch a bunch of stuff when we sleepover but this movie was so freaking long that was about it.

The next morning we went into work. The bosses were there, which we didn’t know, and they didn’t know we were coming. They seemed really happy to see us there. Like usual, we got a ton of work done without all the annoyances that the other people bring with them. We got through a ton of high-priority magazines, which we would have had to dealt with on Monday. After I got home I sent my manager, Mike, an email about what we did, and how much we got done, etc. Instead of saying something like “wow, thanks for coming in and getting that done” or “wow, you guys got through so much” or “wow, that’s really going to help us catch up” he simply said “you guys come in on Sunday a lot.” The whole concept of him being a boss is just ridiculous to me at this point. I think once we move into the new space — which may be as soon as 2 weeks! — we will have even less interaction with him since we will literally be divided from everybody else by a wall of magazines. I cannot wait.

This past week was Matt’s spring break. He decided to come to my apartment each night after work so we could hang out, which is something we never, ever do on week nights. So he commuted from NJ (NJ tranist –> subway), which is why I haven’t updated sooner. I was busy being your typical soccer mom, cooking dinner and waiting to eat until he got home. And I have to say, a week was enough. It was way too much pressure coming up with different ideas for dinner, especially since he’s a big meat-eater and I only eat meat a couple nights a week.

Monday I made stir fry with my new sauce that I like. Sarah had this brand called Soy Vey (awesome) and I surprisingly liked it, even though it had sesame seeds in it. So I made a chicken, string bean, and snow pea stirfry, and I made myself eggdrop soup (which Matt doesn’t like). Of course, like every meal I make, this one was full of disasters. I made way too much rice and it wound up being sticky. I didn’t make enough chicken or enough stirfry in general. But we survived.

Tuesday I made fettuccine alfredo with chicken and peas on the side. Again, with the screwups, I didn’t make enough sauce and then I didn’t have time to heat up more, so we wound up having to microwave our plates before even eating. But, again, it worked out fine in the end.

Wednesday I did not screw up. I made homemade pizza with this yummy frozen dough I got from the grocery store a little while back. And, Miss. Haha-you’re-a-loser-when-are-you-ever-going-to-use-a-pizza-wheel (Jennifer), I took a picture to show you that OMG I used the pizza wheel and it was awesome! So suck it.

And then last night, like ever soccer mom, I was worn out from cooking. I decided to surprise Matt with Boston Market, which he absolutely 100% love and absolutely 100% refuse to get. He was so surprised and loved it. I thought it was eh. I could have made myself what I got for a lot less money.

And now here we are. Tonight Matt has his Allman Brothers concert with his friend so I had a very low-key night. By low-key I mean I did basically nothing since I got home. I did watch RuPaul’s drag-race because with Matt over I missed all my shows. I haven’t seen Top Model or Gossip Girl and I think a new season of Greek started that I can watch on youtube… I have so much TV to watch!

This weekend I don’t have too much planned. I think I’m going to wake up early tomorrow and do some errands (groceries, laundry) and head out to Bed Bath. I don’t really have anything in particular I want to buy, but I have a bazillion coupons and I still want to get some more decorative things/art work/curtains/kitchen stuff. So I’ll just shmy and see what they have. And then I’m going to meet up with Matt at some point. We wanted to actually do some sort of fun activity but the weather is still yucky and I can’t really think of anything good. The only thing I can think of is that new movie I Love You, Man, which I’m sure Jennifer knows about but Mom and Dad don’t. Unfortunately, that came out today but Matt’s coupon from the entertainment book is only good for movies out for 10+ days and you know we’re die-hard coupon people. So that will have to wait for another time. So, long story short, I have no idea what I’m going to do beside my usual boring weekend errands.

I think I’m going to watch one of the above TV shows as I straighten my hair. I did order my curling iron a couple days ago and I’m hoping it will arrive tomorrow. It was sent USPS and their online tracking sucks balls so I actually have no idea when it’s supposed to arrive. I hope it’s tomorrow though cuz I want to be able to play around with it and then use it for work on Monday.

So I finally figured out where I wanted to spend my $20. Sorry, dad, I know you were banking — literally — on the fact that I wouldn’t figure out what I wanted to buy for another couple of weeks or so. Well, I did. It was random and completely unexpected.

Last night I decided that I wanted to go to Whole Foods in Union Square after work. I wanted a different size reusable grocery bag since the one I currently use to bring my lunch to work is way too big. So I go down to Union Square and it is pure and utter mayhem. The crowd, the line, the people. It was absolutely insane. No way was I going to wait forever for just a bag.

So I leave Whole Foods, a little sad because 1 I didn’t have the bag I wanted to get and 2 I went downtown for absolutely nothing. As I was about to call the night a total bust, I remembered that there was a DSW right next door. I decided to go take a look, hoping that winter shoes were on sale.

And I was right. They had a bunch of cute winter flats on sale but a lot of them were too blah and boring for me. Then I came across a pair that looked like a winner. They were tan, a color I desperately wanted so that I could finally throw out a pair of tan shoes from middle/high school. They were also cute, confortable, and stylish. And they were only a little bit over $20. Perfect!

I decided to browse the non-sale section for a change before I checked out. I was looking for a pair of black boots, either flat or with a small heel, that were motorcycle-y and trendy. Then I came across the pair in the second picture and I fell in love. They were a bit more expensive than the other pair (okay, a lot) but I knew I had to have them. All winter I kept thinking to myself, “as soon as I find the right pair I should spend a little bit of money. I’ll get a lot of use out of them.” So with that thought in mind I decided to buy them. The last pair of shoes I bought were sandals at TJ Maxx about 6 months ago, so I deserved it.

Now that I explained the $20 story, I can give a bit of an update on my life post Toy Fair. Things haven’t been too eventful. Have been seeing “Matt” more often now that the LSAT’s are over. This past weekend we went to Key Food on the way home from work Friday and I swear Matt was dad. He acted like he was in a museum. First, he spent about 15 minutes pondering which kind of brownie mix to get. He really wanted to get the Key Food but I said no, for that I really like the name brand better. But then there was chewy fudge, and chocolately fudge, and omigod! so many choices. After all that, we wound up not getting any.

Then, he wanted to get more French onion dip to go with his potato chips. Oh boy. He found a prepackaged kind, but then he already had the onion mix at my house. Should he get the prepackaged kind or the sour cream? When does the sour cream expire? Which one is cheaper per ounce? After another 15 minutes or so he decided to get both. The sour cream for the night, the prepackaged one for “later” (because they may run out of that hot ticket item).

We made tacos together (yes, together) and it was fun. I want to make the macaroni and cheese tomorrow but I have to see if he’d want to. He’s not a very big pasta fan, which sucks because you know I can’t get enough of it. I think I’m also going to bake something this weekend. Like I told mom I found a ton of recipes I want to try in this cooking magazines at work, but I think I don’t have the pans for most of them. Today I read one that’s a cold chocolate peanut butter banana loaf cake. I wanted to make it right away. But I don’t have a loaf pan. So I think I’ll probably wind up making cookies. And, as I learned in the magazine, I can pre-roll the dough into balls and then freeze them so I don’t wind up eating a whole batch of cookies myself, like I usually wind up doing.

Let’s see. What else. Have been seeing Sarah regularly still. Had my work sleepover this past weekend (which I told you about, DAD, and you did not just hear from Jen). That was fun. Like I told Dad we watched the Italian job, which I actually liked a lot. I think I just like serious/action movies if it involves people stealing things. Also went into work on Sunday which was a lot of fun. The boss man bought us all bagels and it was just quiet and easy going.

Oh, yea, work. So I know I was complaining about us not moving… Well we are moving and very soon. We’re moving offices in mid-April a bit farther uptown: 37th and 8th. The location kinda sucks for me because my commute will probably be longer rather than shorter. Going home won’t be too bad. I’ll just take the E at 42nd. But if I want to continue taking the local in the morning I’ll have to walk from either Broadway or 6th. I’ll have to do some test runs to see what works best.

James and I have also been very involved in the whole moving process. While we were in on Sunday we talked with Todd for almost an hour about the layout of the new office. We gave him a ton of input and great ideas about how to effectively lay out our portion of the office. Then, yesterday, he had me take a yardstick and give him measurements to give to the architect. Mind you, our manager Mike, wasn’t involved in any of this… just us. He was only cc-ed on some of the emails Todd sent to us about the blueprint.

I’m so excited for the move. Clearly, Todd trusts our ideas and thoughts… more than anybody elses’s in the office! Plus, James and I will basically have the entire area to ourselves (we’ll be seperated from the other team by a big rack of magazines). So I won’t have to hear/see them constantly laughing, socializing, going on coffee runs, checking facebook, and going on gmail. I think it will be amaaaazing.

This weekend is the robot competition (oy). Since I’m such a supportive, amazing gf I will go. I just requested that I get to use Matt’s iphone while I’m there. Fair enough. Other than that, nothing planned. Sunday I really want to make another batch of soup (or two). I still have dill, parsley, onion, and celery left over so I want to use them before I lose them. Plus, I want to try to make it better than I did last time.

That’s about it. Gotta go watch the Top Chef finale from last night and straighten my hair. See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted last… I don’t know if I can sum up what I did in the past 2 months since my last post but I can talk about this past weekend!

So this weekend was a lot of fun. Thursday night (and last Thursday night) Sarah and I had an Office party. Basically, she came over (she has her car with her… makes things a lot easier) and we cooked dinner and watched the Office/30 Rock.

That’s the one thing I love about getting together with her… when I get together with other people we wind up going to a restaurant or getting take out, so I wind up spending a lot of money and eating unhealthy food. But Sarah’s on the same page as I am–she likes to cook dinner rather than eat out. So on Thursday we both cooked our own dinners (she’s a vegetarian and doesn’t eat any dairy so it’s pretty difficult for us to eat the same thing).

Then Friday night I went over to her house for a sleepover. Both cooked our own dinners again. Hung out, went on facebook, just had a fun night. Then Saturday we went shopping. I wanted to go to one of the outlets dad sent us but the good ones were all pretty far out on LI. So, instead we wound up going to Ikea and planned on going to Roosevelt Fields (mall).

Ikea was awesome. I think I officially know that store layout by heart. We only went to the marketplace area (not the furniture area) and I got a bunch of random stuff that I don’t necessarily need right now, but may need down the line and don’t want to shell out a ton of money for. As you can see in the pics, everything I got was red–not exactly the same red as my kitchen but close enough.

Let’s see… I got spatulas (that’s actually something I need now), a hand-held cheese grater, pizza wheel, new measuring spoons, and funnels. I also got cheap batteris and one of those mats to put under your rug so it doesn’t slip (something I DESPERATELY need for my living room rug).

So, we went to check out… I got my stuff and Sarah’s (we’ve been using her car a lot and Iwanted to do my part to pay her back for gas) and I went to use my Ikea cash coupons. I had $75 in coupons and the totals was like $60 or something like that. So I give the cashier my coupons and she’s like “Well I used the 2 coupons for a total of $50. You have $13 left. You can either use your $25 coupon and not get any money back or pay the difference and keep this coupon.” I was like ummm… wtf. Why would anybody go “you know what Ikea, I think I will spend $25 to get $13 worth of stuff! Thanks!” So basically I still have $25 left that I’m sure will go to great use.

Then we grabbed some lunch at On the Border, a chain Mexican restaurant. I tried enchiladas for the first time and liked them. But as Matt says, all Mexican food is the same so I guess it wasn’t too too new. But it was new and I was proud.

Then we headed to Target (the Target that dad and I went to). It was glorious… It was an actually suburban Target not the insane shitshow that is the Queens Target. We spent so much time there that by the time we left it was dark outside. I got a bunch of stuff… used my Hanukkah gift card from Matt’s fam to get seasons 1 and 2 of Greek on DVD. I am so obsessed with that show it’s not even funny. I watched all 34 episodes of the course of like a week and half (that’s like 30 hours fyi). I never thought I would like that show cuz ya know it’s about frats/sororities and I hate that stuff, but the show is incredible and the most accurate representation of youth/college I’ve ever seen. Okay I’ll stop gushing now.

So besides Greek, I got a little mat for the kitchen (there’s always water on the floor in front of the sink and it really annoys me). I like it a lot because it has red in it but it’s not in your face. I think it goes well.

I also got new placemats because I wasn’t too crazy about the ones I got at Ikea. There were a little small, so I couldn’t really fit a large plate and glass on it too well. And they didn’t wash so great. So I got new bigger ones that should be easier to watch. But I’m still keeping the old placemats, and I’m actually using them as decoration right now, as you can see in the pic.

And then, of course, I bought my $20 item of the week! I bought Cranium, the game I’ve been talking about wanting for like months and I am SO excited. It’s usually much more but it was on sale for exactly $20 and I felt like it was a sign that I just had to get it. Since my work friends are pretty into board games I plan on christening it with them.

So after Target we originally planned on going to Roosevelt Fields, but then we changed it to going to Broadway Mall, which is connected to Target. Well, by the time we finished shopping at Ikea and Target we were literally exhausted so we decided to skip the mall entirely. We went to the Walbaums down the street from Target (yay real supermarket) to shop for dinner. Then we headed back to my apartment and, yet again, cooked our respective dinners. We watched the first 2 episodes of Greek and, just like I suspected, she loved it, too.

Today was a bit lazier. I spent like 4 hours cleaning my apartment. I spent an entire hour cleaning my shower. The tiles were getting dirty and it was incredibly diffucult to clean. I used Comet (the powder kind) and water but it was still really really tough. Any ideas? I really don’t want to spend another hour cleaning them again…

After that I started watching more Greek (I’m telling you–I’m obsessed!) And now here I am writing this. On my new laptop! I totally forgot to mention how amazing it is. I’m not living in fear of it getting unplugged and turning off. It’s not super burning my skin off. It is spectacular. Although I don’t regret waiting so long to buy a new laptop, I sure am happy I have this new one. Now all I need to get is a new TV and my big-ticket purchases are officially done. While we were on Target I did glance briefly at TVs. I tried to estimate how far my couch was from the TV and then look at the different sizes to pick out the best one. I think I decided that 40″ would be good. The 40″ Sony was amazing. It was also $1,000 so it wasn’t that amazing.

This week I plan on doing some errand-type things after work. Tomorrow I want to go to Pier 1 to exchange the teaset from Aaron and Susan. They have coasters I saw that I want to get there. They’re dark wood like my furniture–very nice and simple. Another night this week I want to go to Bed Bath & Beyond to get a few more kitchen things. I also want to go to Marc Jacobs to buy new rainboots. I got a pair from Target last year thinking they would last me a while considering my freshman year target rainboots lasted me about 2 1/2 years. Well one of them split right down the back, so I guess they just don’t make things the way they used to. So a need to get new rainboots before the next big rain.

Looks like dad just signed on IM. I better post this before he asks me where my new post is…

Oh I’m sorry. I was too busy fielding sad IM’s with big frowning faces to write this post. Be less patient please! I said that I would update on Sunday and it will still be Sunday for another whole hour. I know my blog posts are the most important things in your life but the best things come to those who wait.

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, on to this week’s post. As you’re well aware Thursday night Matt and I went to AC… and it was awesome! I had so-so expectations. I was looking forward to taking the day off of work and having a little day trip but I wasn’t completely psyched about the whole AC part of the trip. As you remember my last trip there wasn’t the best, so I wasn’t expecting to have as much fun as I did.

So things kinda started off with a hiccup. I assumed, probably wrongly so, that our bus would be leaving from 8th and 31st, which would have been perfect since we both work right there. The bus left at 7 so that would have given as a good amount of time to grab a bite to eat, buy some snacks for the bus/hotel, and make our way to the bus.

Well… I didn’t learn until work was over Thursday night that the bus was actually leaving from Port Authority (“Oh, I thought you knew that!”) So things were a bit more rushed. We had to get food to eat on the bus and I wound up sweating it up on our journey 10 or so blocks uptown to the bus.

However, we made it to the bus with plenty of time to spare so all was forgotten. I also got another surprise that night when Matt showed me a line in our mega bus reservations that he missed: all riders will get a $20 voucher when they reach AC. Since we only paid $10 roundtrip that’s a pretty sweet deal. Matt and I have already started mapping out some schemes to pocket some of this free money for shopping or other adventures. The only downside would be that we would have to spend 5.5 hours on a bus to get our free money. But hey, free money is free money.

Oh, sorry, had to field another disgruntled IM. If some people would stop harassing me maybe I could get back to my update!

Anyway, we got on the bus, which was pretty empty and quiet. We talked, ate, listened to music, and before we knew it we saw the lights and we were there. We checked into the hotel (not before Matt complained about the line 50 times… just like my father) and settled into our room. It was nice… 18th floor of Bally’s.

Then we went back downstairs and I got my rewards card, figuring the line would be more manageable Thursday night rather than Friday afternoon. Then I played video poker for an hour so I could get my comp. Was up, was down, wound up being down. But I did have a few really lucky hands.

Then we headed over to Caesars, where the bus left us off, to get our vouchers. Turned out they actually weren’t vouchers, just cash which was pretty sweet. We played some more video poker then headed up for the night.

Friday we were able to do something that neither of us have ever done but have always wanted… used my $20 for the week to get room service! We checked out the menu the night before to see if it was even an option. The first thing I saw when I opened the menu was cold cereal for $4.50 (and $3.50 to add fruit) so I was like hell no, that’s such a rip off. But then when we looked at other dishes like eggs and pancakes they were completely normal-priced, if not reasonable. It was one of the more confusing menus I have seen.

Anyway, so we decided to go for it. I got pancakes with banana and Matt got a lox omelet. I doubt you can tell from the picture, but the serving sizes were huge! I literally could only eat half my dish and was done. It was sooo yummy and so much fun to have breakfast delivered to our bed. Thanks, mom and dad!

Then we checked out of our hotel and stored our bags away for the day. We decided to browse around the outlets before it got too rainy/dark later in the day. I really wanted to go to the J. Crew outlet because I really like their style of clothes but the regular store is way too expensive for me. Well, it turns out the outlet was way too expensive, too. They had these cardigans I loveddddd… but they were $60! I just couldn’t do it. I wound up getting really sad because I wanted to buy everything in the store but couldn’t afford anything.

So we headed to the Gap, which has similar stuff as J. Crew but for a little less money. Well, it’s a good thing we went because I found two new things I really wanted. 1) a simple black belt–something I don’t have but desperately need 2) a new coat!

As can be seen in the pictures, I got a new red peacoat (I heard your voice, mom, when I saw it saying how good I would look in a red coat). I really like it because it’s fairly warm but not too warm. It’ll be good for right now, but may not cut it during the heart of winter. I also like it because the cashier scanned some card and then apparently it was sale because it wound up going from $70 to $40. I mean, I was willing to pay $70 but I’ll take a 40% discount!

So after walking around a little bit more/Matt listening to me go “I can’t believe it was on sale! I didn’t know that! I want to go buy more things!” for a couple minutes, then it was back to the casino. We split up for a little bit because Matt wanted to play poker in a sectioned-off room where I could not watch. I played even more video poker. I was down, like usual, when I got a crap hand. So I decided to hold nothing and get five new cards. Well, I was dealt 4 Kings so with that I decided to bid the video poker aideu. (Unfortunately it was at a nickel machine and I think I only bet like 3 credits or so).

Even though I was bad mouthing them the whole time I decided to play slots for a little bit. I found a penny machine I like off in this little corner of Caesars. I was pretty confused about what hands won and what hands didn’t because it wasn’t your typical cherry-number kind of slots. It was like some weird Egyptian-pyramid thing. So I wound up playing and actually won a couple bucks a few spins (which is a lot considering it’s a penny machine).

I met back up with Matt, or should I say the big winner! He won $100 against a bunch of guys who brought way more money than he did. I was proud of him. Then he decided he wanted to play some blackjack so we headed over to the Claridge (“it’s not as old”). He was doing really well–he even got dealt blackjack once–but wound up losing the $40 he put in from his winnings. I really wanted to play with him but the minimum per hand was $10 and I just wasn’t feeling that adventurous. If it were like $1 a hand, I would have given it a try, but there’s no way I would have done $10.

Then we split up again; he went back to poker and I went back to slots. We were both losers this time. Although, I did have one AMAZING hand. Again, on a penny machine, I won $6 in one spin. As Matt said, what if that were a $1 machine instead. That would have been… incredible. But I was still happy $6 even though I left an overall loser.

Then we went to dinner in Bally’s. We went to 6ix Bistro, one of their sit down/nicer restaurants. The food was pretty good… we shared an appetizer, got entrees, and shared a dessert. Between my comp from opening a rewards card and Matt’s comps (he went from $2 to $23 in one day. We can’t decide whether it was from the poker or the room service) dinner wound up costing $10 including tax and tip.

So all in all, we had a pretty cheap vacation. After all the gambling Thursday night and Friday afternoon I think I only lost $40-$60 total (remember, $20 of that money was free from the casino). The hotel plus room was like $50 a person and food was maybe like $5 each. So all in all I think I spent about $100 out of pocket which is not too bad. Plus, I had a lot of fun on the casino floor, which I really didn’t expect.

Oh yea, one more thing before we move on from AC. Unlike last time, Matt and I did not get carded at all. Okay, well maybe twice. At the blackjack table the dealer said something like “you’re 21 right” and Matt said yea and went to pull out his wallet but the dealer shook his head and said it’s fine. And then right when were leaving Matt wanted to get in one more free drink and the waitress decided to card him. I mean, he’s at a casino…

So Friday night we wanted back to the city. We both fell asleep on the bus then I fell right asleep when I got home. I was pooped. Slept late (and I mean late). Then we decided to be a gross, mushy couple and went to the bank and grocery store together. Then I cleaned up a bit because, while we were out, Jess called wanting to make plans so we decided to invite her over for a sleepover. While Matt when into the city to get her a made a cake because it was her birthday on Friday. We surprised her with the cake as soon as they got to the apartment (she liked it a lot) and then we ordered Chinese food (which Matt’s mom paid for since it was like a birthday celebration dinner… sweet!).

We had a fun night… ate and watched TV on my laptop (I still say the Oprah episode of 30 Rock was amazing… “I don’t think it’s fair for me to be on a jury because I can read peoples’ minds”). Jess and I both took naps (because we’re old apparently) while Matt did some homework. We woke up in time to watch SNL and eat lots of junk food.

Went to bed, slept late (are you noticing a trend?). Then we had breakfast, or I guess at that point it was more like brunch, and went to the mall. We took the bus there, which I think was actually a much better way to go than the subway. On the weekends only the local R is running, so if you miss the train you could be waiting for a solid 20 minutes or so. I think I may actually take the bus for now on.

I got a few things at the mall… a new sweater, 2 new shirt wrap things, shower gel, and a new scarf (it’s an addiction! Although, in my defense, this one’s plaid with teal–a design and a color I don’t already own). We had a lot of fun going from store to store just schmying around.

Then we all came back to my apartment, ate leftover Chinese food for dinner and watched some Entourage. Then they headed home, I straightened my apartment, and listened to CHRISTMAS MUSIC as I wrote this post! That’s right–the Christmas music has begun. Unfortunately it was only for this weekend, but I’m sure once Thanksgiving rolls around it will be 24/7. AND, bonus, this station plays so many different songs/versions I’ve never heard before. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!

I hope this post was long enough for you impatient souls. Unfortunately for you, I’m too lazy to proofread such a long a post (in case you haven’t been able to tell so far) so I hope you enjoyed all the typos!

Let me start of this post by saying that I haven’t yet spent my money; it will be spent this upcoming weekend. So this post is basically a round-up of the past week in Emily.

So the past workweek (ew, that sounds weird. I’m much more used to school week) went by well. Tuesday was election day/results anticipation. Wednesday was my cleaning night, which was kind of annoying. My cleaning routine is SO messed up. Usually Sunday is my cleaning day but with all the furniture madness I didn’t get around to it. I like doing my cleaning on the weekend rather than coming home from work, cooking dinner, eating, cleaning up, and then spending the rest of the night cleaning. I need to get back into my usual schedule.

Anyway, back to the week. Thursday I hung out with Sarah. We went Panera for dinner. Panera is an interesting place to me. It’s the only place in NYC that makes me feel like I’m home and, interestingly enough, the only place at home that makes me feel like I’m in NYC. Then we went back to her apartment and watched Arrested. I think the brilliance of that show can be summed up in the fact that I have literally seen every episode about a dozen times and I know exactly what is going to happen… but I still laugh. Truly amazing. If they make it into a movie (which I kind of hope they don’t, see Sex and the City movie) I would be first in line.

Then Friday I went out to a dinner I really didn’t feel like going to but wound up having a great time. A few weeks ago I wrote about going on a double date with Matt and his two friends. Well we went to dinner with them plus a couple of the girl’s friends. We went to a nice restaurant and had a table in the back room. It had a very weird menu — American, Asian, and Italian — and for the first, and probably last, time in my life I actually had trouble deciding what to order. I wound up getting stir fry and it was really good.

Saturday was a pretty lazy morning. Slept late but then was super productive around the house. Even though I only moved in a few months ago things were already getting a bit too disorganized for me. So I went through my linen closet and a few drawers in my kitchen getting everything straightened up and throwing garbage away.

Then we were going out with Matt’s family to celebrate Jess’ birthday. I rushed to straighten my hair, didn’t even finish, had to braid the unstraighten part, rushed to get dressed… and still managed to be late. Oh, and the kicker, my hair curled up immediately after leaving the house. We wound up getting to the restaurant on time but boy was it a stressful train ride.

We went to a VERY nice restaurant in the Meat Packing District. I managed to find something I ate (granted, a did have to special order it… no broccoli, please!) So we had a nice leisurely dinner and then the fam plus me walked around the neighborhood for a little while since it turned out being a nice night.

Then Matt and I went to UCB. I was a little disappointed in the show. It was funny but not nearly as funny as other shows I’ve seen there. By that time it was midnight and since I’m an old lady it was time to head home.

Today I woke up a tad bit earlier than yesterday (emphasis on the tad) and was completely and utterly unproductive. Usually I feel very stressed out/guilty/horrible when I spend the day doing nothing but I handled it pretty well today. Matt and I just watched stuff online (I FINALLY got him to watch more PUA).

Oh yea! We always lived our lives and had the most unhealthy brunch EVER! The backstory is that Matt went to Carmine’s this week and the group all shared their big ice cream sundae (the kind for a ton of people, like they do at A La Mode). So he wanted to try it at my house… so basically we took my big popcorn dish filled it with a quarter gallon or so of ice cream, loaded on the toppings, and ate that for brunch. It was incredibly unhealthy but also incredibly awesome.

Then I did my food shopping, we had a nice Mexican dinner (I refuse to eat that out anymore. It’s only good when I make it) and then he peaced out. I finished organizing/trashing, put some newer photos in some of my frames, and then took some pictures to send to Poppy. Edited Jennifer’s AMAZING essay, and here I am.

Like I said at the beginning of my post, no, I did not spend my money this week. As I told dad (and possibly only dad) Matt and I are taking a little trip to AC this weekend. We’re leaving Thursday night and spending the day Friday. With Megabus, non-weekend hotel stay, and comp-ed meals it should be a pretty cheap getaway. So I’m going to take this $20 and gamble it (hopefully without the guilt).

It’s late and there are still a few things I need to do before I go to sleep. But a quick wrap-up of the weekend/why this was posted so late. Woke up early… and I mean early. I was up at 7:00AM for some reason so I just decided to stay up and be super productive rather than lay in bed all morning. Shopped online at Target for awhile to see if they had any furniture/art I was interested in. They didn’t.

Then went to get bagels with Matt and we did my errands for the week. Want to the grocery store and drugstores, dropped everything off, then went to Target to see if they had some decor stuff I could get. The Target here in Queens is way worse than the one on LI. They had a lot let stuff and it was crowded. I didn’t get any decor stuff but I did the exact kind of butter dish I’ve been looking for and another small cutting board to go with the one I bought recently. Also got a bunch of junk food (oops) because the prices were really good. Then we went to Coldstone and as I’m writing this I remembered I took half of my birthday cake remix home and now I’m super excited to eat it!

Anyway, after Tarjay I was pooped from all the running around and having to carry the granny cart up and down. So I wound up taking a 2 hour or so nap (is it considered a nap if it’s that long?) I had just woken up when you (Dad) called and I wasn’t about to go back to sleep. Had the leftovers of the Chinese leftovers and watched Pick Up Artist (amazing).

Then I started straightening the mess of my room, folding/putting things in drawers, organizing my purses, closets, etc. Adter the mess was clear I really got to take a look at my room and realized that my bed set up just wasn’t working for me. Because the night tables are fairly low you couldn’t really see the left night table from the entrance way so it just looked really weird that the bed was so far from the wall. Also, there was sooo much floor space in the middle of the room so it just looked like so empty.

So I moved my bed to the window. I think the night tables look way better and some of the empty floor space is spread out to the sides of the bed and the center of the room.

It’s been so long! It’s been a crazy week and a half. So let’s see… last week was pretty hectic. Last Monday I had dinner with Sarah. We went to a nice little Italian restaurant in Astoria. It was still warm then (hard to believe) so we ate outside and had a nice leisurely dinner. Then we went back to her apartment and baked brownies and ate cookie dough. It was lots of fun.

Last Wednesday Matt and I went out for a double date with one of his good NYU friends (I’ve met him a couple times before) and his new GF. I take back my comment about having a leisurely dinner with Sarah… now this was a leisurely dinner. We went to an Italian place in the East Village and had a 2 and a half hour full-out appetizer, entree, dessert meal. It was a great restaurant — the food and prices were both good (imagine that). It was a fun, late night.

Last Thursday Colleen had a little birthday get together so, again, I had a leisurely dinner. It was fun to catch up since we’re all so busy and aren’t living in the same dorm as last year.

Friday I was pooped (I mean, look at my week) so Matt and I just had dinner at my apartment and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm all night. That was lots of fun. Then Saturday we went to the mall to get him new clothes (about time). It was nice to shop without spending any money. Then, like I told you mon the phone, Matt left to have dinner with his friend on a Saturday night (wtf). And like I said, I wasn’t expecting to see him again that night so I decided to just go through the Ikea catalog and be super productive. But there I was laying on my bed, when –ding dong– Matt was back… with flowers! (See picture) It was completely unexpected and cute. We had brownie sundaes and watched SNL, you betchya.

Then Sunday I spent most of the day with Jess. We shopped around her dorm/my work looking for winter boots to no avail. I really want slouchy boots or motorcycle boots but the stores just didn’t have what I was looking for. Then the two of us met up with Matt and went to our favorite Chinese restaurant in Union Square.

So all in all, a very busy but very fun week/end. This week has hardly been as busy. Monday Matt and I went to see Tropic Thunder at NYU for 2 bucks. That was fun and the movie was a little long/action-y but funny.

Last night was a disaster. I wanted to spend my $20 for the week so I went to Marshalls in Rego Park after work, but they didn’t have what I was looking for. Of course, the one day I didn’t have my Bed Bath coupons with me like I usually do, was the one day I wanted to go there after failing at Marshalls. Since I couldn’t do that, I was just going to head home, one subway stop, to make dinner. But I’m a retard and swiped into the wrong direction subway so I had like a freaking 20 minute detour. I was so mad, you have no idea.

But that’s okay because tonight I was able to use my $20 for the week. I went to Bed Bath in Manhattan after work… I really wanted a straw dispenser because I love using straws but as mom saw when she was here, keeping them in a bag in a drawer just wasn’t cutting it. I also wanted new measuring cups because the labels on the ones I have now are peeling and sticky and kinda gross. And, finally, I wanted to make cookies with my cookie cutters for Halloween this weekend but didn’t have a rolling pin. Thank god for those BBB coupons– I was able to save $7! So I was able to get all three of those items for $20 (and 56 cents).

Tomorrow Matt and I are going to the premier of Zack and Miri Make A Porno (I think the title is self explanatory) so I won’t be able to get my cookie dough ready and refrigerated tomorrow. So I think I’m going to take care of that now so the dough will be all ready to roll and bake on Friday night.